Pope Francis has apologized for the abuse of Indigenous children who were separated from their families and sent to church-run residential schools, where they faced psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Pope Francis made the apology Monday in Maskwacis, Alberta, the site of a former residential school.

Pope Francis: “I myself wish to reaffirm this, with shame and unambiguously; humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples.”

The pope’s apology comes seven years after Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission accused church-run residential schools of taking part in a form of “cultural genocide.” The commission also determined that more than 4,000 Indigenous children died from neglect or abuse in residential schools from the late 19th century through the 1940s. Unmarked graves are still being found. We’ll have the latest on the pope’s historic apology tour after headlines.